Safety interlocking clothes hanger



Oct. 15, 1946. A. BRILL ETAL 2,409,533

SAFETY INTERLOCK ING' CLOTHES HANGER I FiledOci. 17, 1944 ARON BRILLWALTER KNEISSLER v INVENTORS ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 15, 1946 moansSAFETY INTERLOCKING CLOTHES HAN GER Aron Brill, Brooklyn, N. Y., andWalter Kneissler,

Roselle, N. J.

Application October 17, 1944, Serial No. 558,992

2 Claims. (01. 223-88) This invention relates to garment hangers and'more particularly to a garment hanger having a hook structure adaptedfor self-locking engagement with a supporting bar or clothes linewithout fear of the hanger .becomingaccidentally disengaged and fallingto the floor.

An object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger having abifurcated hook and an integral spring movable into the bifurcation, thehanger being attachable to a supporting bar by holding the hanger bodyin one hand and pressing the spring against the bar and causing swingingmovement of the spring inwardly of the hook sufficiently to providepassage for the bar into the hook, when the spring springs back into thebifurcation and is mechanically interlocked by the bifurcation andautomatically held against sideways sway to the right or left.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger having abifurcated hook and a leaf spring with an :angularly bent portion whichis designed to enter the bifurcated hook, the spring having an upwardlyfacing extension whereby the hanger can be lockably attached to, orunlocked and removed from a supporting bar by a single movement of onehand of the user and without any manual manipulation of the lockingmeans.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention will behereinafter more particularly described, and the combination andarrangement of parts will be shown in the accompanying drawing andpointed out in the claims which form part of this specification.

Reference will now be had to the drawing, wherein like numerals ofreference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, inwhich:

Figure l is a side view of the hanger.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the hook portion of the hanger shown inFigure 1.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the numeral Illindicates a clothes hanger, formed from a single length of wire. Thehanger comprises a garment supporting body having a horizontal portionH, and angular sides, l2, l2.

The sides [2, l2 converge into a straight vertical portion I3. Theangular side it is twisted into a hollow coil M.

The vertically extending portion is of the angular side I2 passesthrough the coil Hi and is bent into a hook it comprising a rear elementI6 and a reversely bent forward element 56 The hook elements It and I6are in spacedapart relation and form a bifurcation or receiving means.Immediately above the coiled portion, the wire branches outwardly andupwardly at I8, I 5 in opposite directions to form a bifurcation whichextends parallelly the entire height of the hook I6 and all the way downto the free end portion ii] of the hook.

A clamping member 20 preferably made of a strip of sheet metal is bentaround and grips the upwardly extending side wall elements 2i of thehook 16. The clamping member 20 has parallel side walls which areslightly spaced apart and serve to receive therebetween a flat leafspring 22 in suitably fixed relation.

As best shown in Figure 2, the spaced-apart side wall elements 2| form areceiving means into which an extension of the spring 22 is received andheld from swaying to the right or left.

The clamping member 20 has vertically elongated tubular end walls 24 inwhich the wire is held immovably fixed. During the motion of the spring22 into the bifurcation of the hook and back into engagement with thebifurcated free end portion [9 of the hook, the spring 22 is preventedby the vertically elongated end walls of the clamp from swaying to theright or to the left. During the rearward movement of the spring, itslower portion passes through openings 25 which extend to the clampingmember 28.

The portion of the clamping member 20 intermediate the tubular end walls24 is flattened into gripping engagement with the leaf spring. It is tobe noted that the lower end of the leaf spring 22 is immovably held inthe clamping member 20 and the free upper end of the spring is heldinthe bight or receiving means l9 at the free end of the hook H3. Theleaf sprin 22 is thus securely held against sway either to the right orthe left at its upper and lower ends.

In operation, the leaf spring 22 moves rear- Wardly into the hook itwhen forced against a supporting bar 26 to allow the bar to pass intothe hook.

The user grasps one end portion of the body of the clothes hanger andbrings the extension 2? forcibly against a supporting bar on which thehanger is to be mounted. The pressure exerted by the user forces theextension 21 inwardly of the'hook sufficiently to permit the supportingbar 26 to enter the hook. The hanger is thus held securely and preventedfrom becoming disengaged and falling to the floor.

The hanger lil is designed so that it can be lockably attached to, orunlocked and removed from a supporting bar by a single movement of onehand of the user and without any manual posite sides of the bar 26.

manipulation of the locking means. For this purpose the hook l6 of thehanger in is made considerably elongated. The spring 22 has an angularlybent portion 28 which is designed to enter into the free end portion IQof the bifurcated hook l6.

The angularly bent portion 28 of the spring 22 has an upwardly facingextension 30. The free end portion 3| of the spring 22 terminates pastthe mid-portion of the supporting bar 26. When it is desired to detachthe hanger In from the supporting bar 26, the hanger i9 is movedupwardly to bring the extension 30 against the bar and forcing the bentportion 28 inwardly of the bifurcated hook I6 sufliciently to permit thefree end portion it! of the hook and the spring portion 28 in itsrearward position, to clear op- The hanger I6 is then disengaged fromthe bar 26.

In accordance with the patent statutes, we have described andillustrated the preferred embodiments of our invention, but it will beunderstood that various changes and modifications can be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

We claim:

1. In a clothes hanger comprising a hook for a supporting bar, said hookhaving parallel walls spaced apart throughout its entire extent andhaving a bifurcation at its free end, an elongated leaf spring pivotallyheld at its lower end and intermediate of said hook walls, said springhaving an angularly bent portion extending into interengagement withsaid bifurcation and bein held thereby against lateral sway, a clamphaving vertically elongated tubular end walls in fixed engagement withboth of said walls, the portion of said clamp intermediate said endwalls being flattened, said clamp holding said spring in immovableengagement with the lower end portion of said hook, said hanger beingattachable to said bar by pressing the free end portion of said springbelow said bifurcation against said bar and causing movement of saidspring inwardly of said hook and between said parallel wallssufiiciently to provide passage for said bar into said hook, said springhaving an upwardly facing angularly directed extension, the free end ofsaid extension terminating past the mid portion of said bar to permitsaid hanger to be moved upwardy into disengagement from said bar byforcibly pressing said spring inwardly of said hook sufiiciently toprovide outward passage for said bar.

2. In a clothes hanger comprising a hook for a supporting bar, said hookhaving parallel walls spaced apart throughout its entire extent andhaving a, bifurcation at its free end, an elongated leaf spring held atits lower end and intermediate of said hook walls, said spring having anangularly bent portion extending into interengagement with saidbifurcation and being held thereby against lateral sway, a clamp infixed engagement with both of said walls, said clamp holding said springin immovable engagement with the lower end portion of said hook, saidhanger being attachable to said bar by pressing the free end portion ofsaid spring below said bifurcation against said bar and causing movementof said spring inwardly of said hook and between said parallel wallssufiiciently to provide passage for said bar into said hook, said springhaving an upwardly facing angularly directed extension, the free end ofsaid extension terminating past the mid portion of said bar to permitsaid hanger to be moved upwardly into disengagement from said bar byforcibly pressing said spring inwardly of said hook sufficiently toprovide outward passage for said bar.

ARON BRILL. WALTER KNEISSLER,

